Graphic Novel -Attack of the Black Mamba

 Graphic Novels!  As a librarian, I've known for years how excited children get about books in this format . Though it seemed to be mainly boys and students whose English is a second language, girls were interested also. Fiction and informational, the graphic books that are coming out are getting better and more sophisticated and it's hard to keep them stocked.

But....  I'm afraid the graphics get more attention than the words. The type is often so small it's illegible, and the reading level of the words is often too high for the kids "reading" the books.  I wanted to see graphic early readers - graphic novels aimed at beginning and emerging readers, that paid attention to eye tracking, grammar, and reading levels as well as graphics and story.

So, I had this idea..... 

A fun, slightly gruesome story that was conceived as a graphic novel written by a kid -instead of a report - with some non-fiction information thrown in.  Then, since I did take art classes in college (though mainly sculpture and painting), I thought I would try my hand at drawing - at least a dummy - just to see what it might look like. You never really know how difficult something is until you try it.  Here is what I created for a 32-page picture book.  It is rough and I'm not good at posting drawings, but I thought I'd send it out into cyberspace.

 I'm still not sure if it works. I wish I knew more about the form. I showed it to one editor and she said, "what is it?"  I should have known better, as she edits sweet picturebooks, but still....  I would love to collaborate with an artist who knows comics and see what they do with my story.